A map of 17,000 toxic air polluters near you! Photo Credit: NPR/Center for Public Integrity

The Republican perennial assault on the already underfunded, inept Environmental Protection Agency usually calls for looser regulations by spreading the scare of economic strain and job loss as a result of stricter ones.

A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows lower levels of pollution and ozone in the atmosphere noticeably increase worker productivity.

Does this really quash the Republican concerns? Who ever said productivity was beneficial, after all? We can’t just all of a sudden have one man doing what two have been because they couldn’t catch their breath, right?!